The wines will be offered 'en primeur' in barrels, or 'pièces' from that year's harvest and then tended by a négociant-éleveur before being bottled, one or two years after the sale, in the buyers choice of format. A barrel amounts to approximately 288 bottles or 24 cases of 12 bottles.

The auction takes place every year in November, with the 2014 auction number 154 in the history of Hospices de Beaune.